October 2019

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

What’s New ........................ …....2 1920 Advisory Team .......... …....2 Membership Packets ......... …....3 Arsht Volunteers Care ....... …....3 Parking Passes ................... …....4 Upcoming Trainings .......... …....4 Getting to Know You ......... …....5 Volunteer Dinner Highlights…..6 GTKY Contest Winner..…..….....7 Milestone Achievers….……........8 Neal Hoffson.………………….......9 Season Reminders…………........10 Books and Books Vouchers.......11 Books and Books Options…......11 Media Protocol…………….……....12 Experience Survey...….…….......12 Ticket Requests……………..........13 Season Reminders Continued..14 Cancellation Contact List….......15 Volunteer Report Time …..…...16

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST

• Who is Beth Markowitz?

• FGS Promo Code

• Arsht Vision

• Arsht Mission

• Uniform Pricing List

• Ticket Reminders

• Pin Etiquette

• New Lanyards

• New Snacks

• Reminders

The Bridge

Volunteer Newsletter

Happy New Year!

Man! We started the year off with a bang! Thank you to everyone

who joined us at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Those of you

who were not able to make it, you were missed!

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead this group of spectacular

volunteers yet another season.

Let’s make it the best season yet!

Sincerely,

Nicole

2

WHAT’S NEW WHAT’S COMING

1. FGS Promo Code

1. Trainings

In Africa there is a

concept known as

‘Ubuntu’ – the

profound sense that we

are human only

through the humanity

of others; that if we are

to accomplish anything

in this world it will in

equal measure be due

to the work and

achievement of

others.”

(Mandela)

Welcome the 2019-2020 Advisory team. We will meet monthly to

address any challenges and come up with new and creative ideas to

ensure our volunteers have the best volunteering experience possible.

In addition to the suggestion box, feel free to tell them your ideas so

they can bring them to the monthly meeting to be discussed. Meetings

will be held on the first Monday of each month.

2019-2020 VOLUNTEER ADVISORY TEAM

Pictured from Left to Right:

Roberto Criado, Joel Beyer, Laura Mendoza, Judith Traum, Betty Nessl-

Brandow, Brenda Romeo, Bill McDonald, Alina De La Paz (not pictured)

Beth Markowitz, Advancement Services &

Membership Assistant

How long have you worked at the Arsht Center in this position?

9 months

Is this your first role at the Arsht Center?

I was previously an intern for 7 months with Membership

Do you have any sib-lings?

Yes, an older sister

Do you have any chil-dren?

No.

What is one of your fa-vorite quotes?

Don’t wait for perfect moments, make moments perfect.

What chore do you abso-lutely hate doing?

I actually enjoy chores! I find them both relaxing and rewarding.

If you could choose any-one, who would you pick as your mentor?

I learn from and am inspired by my Arsht Center family

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ARSHT VOLUNTEERS CARE Your new advisory team is already at work.

Introducing Arsht Volunteers Care. If an

extenuating circumstance arises and you find

yourself in need of tickets for a show, a

request can be sent directly to me

(nsmith@arshtcenter.org).

I, in turn, will make the volunteer team

aware of the need. If anyone is willing and able to donate some of their tick-

ets, they can contact me directly and we can make it happen.

The entire process will be kept anonymous; both the volunteer in need and

the person donating the tickets to protect the interest of both parties

involved. Each volunteer can make one such request each season and will

still need to follow the regular ticket request guidelines. Thank you for being

such a generous group of souls.

Let us know if you have any questions.

MEMBERSHIP PACKETS

If you earned 72 hours last season, the Advancement team gifted you with

an Arsht Center Culturist Membership. If you didn’t receive your member-

ship packet at the volunteer dinner, I will be handing them out at briefings

during October. As of November 1, any packets not picked up will be

mailed out. If you do not receive it by the end of November, then let us

know. If you are interested in upgrading your membership, please reach out

to culturist@arshtcenter.org or call 786-468-2040 and they can assist you.

Thank you again for all of your dedication to the Arsht Center.

mailto:culturist@arshtcenter.org

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This season, a special

allocation of passes have

been set aside for

volunteers.

If you would like First

Access passes to any

remaining Free Gospel

Sundays performances,

submit your request just

like a normal ticket

request. Once we receive

the request, we will send

you the promo code along

with the dates that it is

valid for you to redeem

your tickets.

The promo code is only

valid while supplies last.

Although you don’t have

to, our recommendation

is to try to obtain the first

access passes on your

own first and if you are

unable to do so, then

submit a request through

volunteers.

Let us know if you have

any questions.

786-468-2033

volunteers@arshtcenter.org

New Volunteer Orientation 11/11/2019 6p—8p

Our next New Volunteer Orientation will take place on Monday

11/11/2019 in the PFS. If you know anyone that may be interested, please be

sure to pass along the information. They can contact us at:

voluteers@arshtcenter.org or visit www.arshtcenter.org/volunteers and click

on “Join Our Team!” Remember, if they stay past the 60 day trial period, you

earn extra incentive hours!

UBUNTU / Ticketing Trainings : In this training you will learn about the

spirit of UBUNTU and how it translates into being a volunteer. The second

part of this training is an introduction / refresher on using the new scanners.

Saturday, November 16 @ 1 pm - CST

Sunday, November 17 @ 1 pm - KCH Auditorium

Seating / Emergency Trainings: This training reviews basic venue

knowledge, covers seating, emergency procedures and much more. All volun-

teers are eligible for this training and are encouraged to participate. Great for

any usher who feels as though they are given the same assignments. This

training will help to improve skills needed to be flexible to usher on any tier.

Wednesday, November 20 @ 6:00 pm - KCH Auditorium

UPCOMING TRAININGS

1425 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami FL 33132

As of 11/1/2019, we will only be giving out validation stickers to incoming

new volunteers attending the New Volunteer orientation. If you have not yet

submitted your parking pass form to park in the garage, please do so as soon

as possible so we can have everyone up and ready with their cards by

November.

VOLUNTEER PARKING PASSES

https://www.google.com/maps/place/1425+NE+2nd+Ave,+Miami,+FL+33132/@25.7895598,-80.1894663,18z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x88d9b6a6f92eba8f:0x97d80394acf6bf2a!2s1425+NE+2nd+Ave,+Miami,+FL+33132!3b1!8m2!3d25.7891556!4d-80.1902776!3m4!1s0x88d9b6a6f92eba8f:0x97d80394

GETTING TO

KNOW YOU! If you missed the dinner, you

don’t have to miss out? While

waiting for the briefing or

in-between shows, find

someone who:

Is/was a flight attendant

___________________

Is/was a child advocate

___________________

Works for the government

___________________

Is/was a lawyer

__________________

Is/was a doctor

___________________

Owns a boat

___________________

Owns a cat

___________________

Is/was a travel agent

_____________

Is/was a realtor

___________________

Is/was a dancer

___________________

Has a daughter

___________________

Has a son

___________________

Has grandkids

___________________

Is a food stylist

___________________

Is/was a chemist

___________________

Is/was an HR manager

_________________

5

In an effort to get to know our team better, I have literally put together a list of 20 questions (not including your name lol). This survey is completely voluntary, but I would truly love to learn more about each of you. I found out some pretty interesting things through the “Getting To Know You Game” at the dinner. At the very least, finding out how we all have more in common than we think! If you do fill it out, you will receive 15 incentive hours. Since I am asking these questions of you , I feel it is only fair that I answer them too, so here we go:

• I am currently the Manager of Volunteer and Internship services, but before this, I worked in the Arsht Marketing department. Prior to coming to the Arsht Center I worked in Sales/Marketing and Promotions for Iheart Media and Beasly Broadcasting in Houston, Chicago and South Florida markets.

• I was born in Philadelphia, PA to Panamanian parents

• I speak English and some Spanish

• No food allergies, but I don’t eat pork or most seafood. I only eat some fish.

• My hobbies include salsa dancing and reading

• No hidden talents

• I have an older sister, brother and younger brother

• I have one 22 year old daughter

• I better not have any grandkids!

• I have been married and divorced twice

• I am not a widow but I did lose a boyfriend to cancer

• No pets here

• I currently live in North Miami

• 3 greatest accomplishments in life: Raising my daughter by myself, writing a book and graduating from college debt free due to a track scholarship.

• My appreciation languages are words of affirmation and gifts.

Ok…YOUR TURN!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L875C3D

GETTING TO KNOW YOU….

GETTING TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU

Rhythm City (DJ)

Reflections (AV)

Tier Leaders

Arsht Staff

Marriott Staff

Matt Browne

(keyboard player

during cocktail hour)

Halo - Kimberly (the

lady who helps us get

all the Arsht Volunteer

branded goodies)

Dr. Michael Krop

Senior High Magnet

Theater Program

Annabel Bruster

(donated $100 worth of

Bath and Body Works

gift for raffle prizes for

the dinner)

6

On behalf of the performers and the entire magnet theatre program, we thank you. Thank you for seeing something in us that day in "Hamiltunes", and I pray we exceeded your expectations. What you allowed for my students to do is beyond amazing and an experience that they will never forget! Attached is a picture of some of the students with the posters and myself. They LOVED them! If you ever need any performers, I pray you consider Dr. Michael Krop Theatre Magnet. Again, I can't say this enough, THANK YOU AND WE APPRECIATE YOU! All the best, Jamel Booth

VOLUNTEER DINNER

HIGHLIGHTS

A THANK YOU FROM DR. KROP SENIOR HIGH

MAGNET THEATER PROGRAM

GETTING TO

KNOW YOU! If you missed the dinner, you

don’t have to miss out? While

waiting for the briefing or

in-between shows, find

someone who:

Is/was a flight attendant

___________________

Is/was a child advocate

___________________

Works for the government

___________________

Is/was a lawyer

__________________

Is/was a doctor

___________________

Owns a boat

___________________

Owns a cat

___________________

Is/was a travel agent

_____________

Is/was a realtor

___________________

Is/was a dancer

___________________

Has a daughter

___________________

Has a son

___________________

Has grandkids

___________________

Is a food stylist

___________________

Is/was a chemist

___________________

Is/was an HR manager

_________________

7

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

In all the excitement of the dinner, we

forgot to pull the winner for the Getting to

Know you Ice Breaker Game.

And the winner is……..

Cristina Sixto!

8

LIFETIME HOURS ACHIEVEMENT

Congratulate your fellow volunteers who have reached a milestone! If you

did not receive your pin at the dinner, I will be delivering them during

upcoming briefings. If your name does not appear below and you believe you

have hit a lifetime hour mark, please let us know and we will look into it.

1000 Lifetime Hours

Alina de la Paz Alejandra Rodriguez Mirta Klingensmith Jeannie Weiss Rudy Vargas Martha Bonilla Herb and Marilyn Cohen Alessandra Delfico Susan Mohorcic Linda Baker Betty Nessl-Brandow Joel Beyer Martha Welters

500 Lifetime Hours

Marcye Slutsky Marcy Prince Jay Jones Mary Ann Reid Cristina Sixto Ana Antomattei Diane Lindner Don Smith Leslie Bell Luisa Otero Carol Mitteldorf Robert Ard Suzanna Sanders Jonathan Katzen Celina Moreno Alejandra Rodriguez Maria Debacher

2000 Lifetime Hours

Ellie Stern Karen Hotaling Brenda Romeo Monique Chemaly

Sondra Walsh Angela Chin-Tai Abbey Vargas-Fournier Vivian Deval Linda Lee Yasmine Jean-Baptiste

5 Year Pins

Sara Zajic Hannah Wilson Ana Chaparro Susan Ackley Sondra Walsh Jeannie Weiss Alejandra Rodriguez Olinda Zavaleta Beatrice Nessl-Brandow

10 Year Pins

Vivian Deval Alicia Hernandez Wanda McCaskill Karen Hotaling Arlene Terrinoni Grizelle Forman

9

October 13, 2019. Neal's

love of the arts brought

him to the Adrienne Arsht

Center in 2006 where he

was a highly respected,

creative House Manager.

He thoroughly enjoyed

welcoming guests to the

Arsht Center and working

with staff to ensure that

guest experiences were

memorable. He is sur-

vived by his twin brother

Gary Hoffson and his

wife Alison, brother

Glenn and nephews Ja-

son and John. At the

family's request dona-

tions in Neal's name may

be made to the Adrienne

Arsht Center for the Per-

forming Arts of Miami-

Dade County.

Published in the Miami Herald on Oct. 22, 2019

If you missed the dinner, we broke the saddening news that our dearest Neal passed away

on 10/13/2019. Please see the obituary that the Arsht Center placed in the newspaper.–

Follow the link to leave words of comfort for his family if you would like. https://

www.legacy.com/obituaries/herald/obituary.aspx?n=neal-hoffson&pid=194227312

NEAL HOFFSON:

NEVER FORGOTTEN

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/herald/obituary.aspx?n=neal-hoffson&pid=194227312https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/herald/obituary.aspx?n=neal-hoffson&pid=194227312

The Adrienne Arsht Center

embraces excellence, cele-

brates differences, renews

the spirit and engages di-

verse communities through

the power of the perform-

ing arts.

As a focal point of Greater

Miami-Dade

diverse cultural life, The

Adrienne Arsht Center

enlightens, educates and

entertains our community

through transformational

arts and cultural experienc-

es.

10

SEASON REMINDERS

Total tickets earned for the current season

#of hours in which next set of 4 tickets are issued

Total tickets available from last & current season Total tickets redeemed this season

Your ID# used for ticket requests

Total # of hours earned from day 1, no bonus hours Total # of hours including bonus hours

EXAMPLE

It is a new season so you may have noticed something different when

you click on “Review Tickets/Hours.” It displays hours/tickets

information only for the current season. Since the new season started

on 10/1/2019, only activity beginning from 10/1 will be displayed. If

you have concerns about hours from last season, we can provide you a

print out with your hours.

The number displayed by “Actual Hours Earned” are your

hours earned excluding incentive hours. This is the number that your

achievement pins are based off of. The number displayed by

“Total Lifetime Hours” includes your actual hours in addition to

any incentive hours earned from your first day.

If you have any questions,

please contact us at 786-468-2033 or

volunteers@arshtcenter.org

My Account/Volunteer Room/Review Tickets/Hours

Total hours earned for the current season

Arsht Center Vision:

Arsht Center

Mission:

We’re your locally-owned,

independently-minded café and

bookstore in the tradition of all

of Mitchell Kaplan’s Books &

Books’ locations, and under the

direction of James Beard award

-winning Chef Allen Susser!

Find us on the Arsht Center

campus, inside the landmark

Carnival Tower. Our café-style

restaurant features indoor and

outdoor seating (weather per-

mitting), table service and a full

bar. Open to patrons for lunch

and n pre-show dining.

“We have a passionate

commitment to local, fresh

ingredients” and our menu

features a great choice of

appetizers, entrees and desserts.

Plus, a fine selection of Books

& Books! The bookstore staff

will happily share their

recommendations for new titles

and help you with all your book

needs.

Check website for most

Up-to-date hours of operation

11

BOOKS AND BOOKS DOUBLES VOUCHER MENU OPTIONS

Please note, when using the voucher, this is what is included in the $20. You can choose one of the following from their theater menu: • An Entrée and a soft drink (with the exception of the steak) • Two appetizers and a soft drink • Two desserts and a soft drink • One appetizer, one dessert and one soft drink

Volunteer Services will provide meal vouchers to the Café at Books and Books only

for anyone working a double shift of a weekend performance.

Please note the following:

The voucher is good only for the day of the double worked

The voucher is good up to $20 and includes meal, beverage, tax and tip. Anything

over the $20 limit is solely the responsibility of the volunteer.

The voucher can only be redeemed at the Arsht Center location of the Café at

Books and Books.

Please be sure your server is aware that you are a volunteer and that you present the

voucher BEFORE ordering. When your meal has ended, include the voucher with

the check (don’t forget to sign the back). If your bill is over $20, you are responsible

to cover the rest.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at

volunteers@arshtcenter.org

MEAL VOUCHERS FOR DOUBLES

UNIFORM

PRICING LIST!

As the season continues,

should you decide to purchase any part of your

uniform please see the pricing below. Send us an

e-mail with what you would like and I will have them

waiting for you or you can schedule a time to come in to the office to pick up your

uniform pieces. White Shirts: $16.50 Women’s Vests: (XS—XL) $22.50 Women’s Vests: (sXL—3XL) $24.75 Men’s Vests: (S—XL) $22.50 Men’s Vests: (2XL—4XL) $24.75 Ascot: $6.25 Tie: $7.25 Flashlight: First one $5 After 1st one: $10

12

We need your feedback! We have added a survey to your confirmation

and reminder e-mails as well as the online volunteer room to rate how

your experience was after each shift. Your feedback can be anonymous.

Your feedback is imperative to continue to grow this program. We are

asking if you had a great, or not so great experience, that you let us know

so that we can try to fix anything we can. We thank you in advance for

your cooperation!

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE SURVEY

MEDIA PROTOCOL

This is a reminder that, as mentioned in the volunteer handbook, any and all in-quiries from the media must be directed to our Public Relations Department. At no time should a volunteer or ANY staff member (including myself) speak on be-half of the Arsht Center. Even with the best intentions, words can, and more than likely, will be construed to paint you and/or the Center in a bad light.

13

We have created a new Ticket Request page to keep you updated about tickets. If

you don’t find the answer to your ticket questions here, you can still e-mail us at

volunteers@arshtcenter.org.

A few things to note:

1.You can find the link to the Ticket Request Page on the volunteer online portal.

2. Please only hit submit once. Even though it looks like it didn’t register it has.

If you are unsure, you can always send us an e-mail to make sure we received it.

3. All fields must be filled out in order for the submission to go through success-

fully

4. If you are unsure of a date, list your first choice in the date field. Your second

or third choice can be listed in the notes section at the bottom.

5. Please take time to read everything carefully at least once before you submit

your ticket request.

REQUESTING TICKETS

If you are working a shift, please

do not attempt to pick up tickets

for a future show less than 2

hours prior to curtain as the Box

office is normally extremely busy

trying to make sure guests get

their tickets in time for the shows

for that particular evening. If

you are attending the show that

evening, it is ok to pick up the

tickets for that night at will call

day of.

VOLUNTEER TICKET

REMINDERS

14

2019-2020 REMINDERS CONTINUED

Referral Program

Any current volunteer can recommend a friend, co-worker or family member (all must

be 18 years or older) to attend a New Volunteer Orientation. If the person

recommended stays through the 60 trial period, the volunteer who recommended

him/her will receive 10 bonus hours per person recommended. Thank you for

spreading the word!

Volunteer Reassignment A friendly reminder that in the occasional case that we have multiple shows taking

place on a given night, and a show is short of volunteers, the House Managers will

assess the need based upon the number of volunteers who are available that evening

and the strengths of the volunteers. Then, based upon that information, they will map

out what will work best for the Center in terms of coverage for all houses for the

evening to ensure the best guest service experience possible. If you are re-assigned,

you will be notified prior to the start of the briefing. Please understand it is not

personal and in these cases everyone involved is expected to work as a team to

make it a smooth experience. Swapping with another volunteer is not an option as the

House Managers have selected individuals for reassignment for specific reasons.

We thank everyone in advance for their cooperation.

Seasoned Usher Status In order to maintain your seasoned usher status, you must complete a minimum of 130 actual ushering hours (for performances) and does not include bonus hours

before 9/30/2019.

Cancellation Forgiveness If you need to cancel an assignment, but provide a replacement, your cancellation will

be forgiven and not count against your bonus hours. After you cancel, please send

us an e-mail with whom will be covering for you. Once we verify that the person has

signed up in your place, we will make the note on your account.

Please note: the cancellation will still show up on your account as “cancelled assign-

ment” to keep records accurate, but we will have made note in terms of who covered

for your confirmation. We will also send you a confirmation e-mail indicating the nota-

tion has been made to your account.

If you have any questions regarding any of the above, please feel free to reach out to us at 786-468-2033 or volunteers@arshtcenter.org

Please remember the approved

uniform allows for only one

pin on each shirt collar.

Please remember not to wear

your pins on the vests or

elsewhere on the Arsht

Uniform (even if you own your

vest). You will

see more new

ushers wear-

ing this pin.

Be sure to welcome them and

take them under your wing.

If

you

have

run

out

of room on your shirt collar,

the new lanyards are a great

place to display your pins! If

you need to display a pin or

need somewhere to hang your

flashlight or pen, please use

the new lanyard so that we all

look uniform.

Thank you!

Pin Etiquette

15

To solve the challenge of providing volunteer contact information for the

“Cancellation Forgiveness” policy (see below), as well as stay in compliance with

Arsht Center privacy regulations, Volunteer Services has posted the cancellation

buddy list that was on the bulletin board in the clubhouse on the online Volunteer

Room Portal. If you choose to use this list, please be respectful and mindful to

remember that the purpose of this list is to aid in the cancellation process. It

should only be used to contact someone regarding a cancellation or offering to

pick up a shift.

If you are interested in having your contact information (name and/or e-mail

address) added to the list, please notify Volunteer Services and we will add you.

Please be sure to include:

First Name / Last Name

Phone number and/or e-mail address

Preferred Method of Contact

VOLUNTEER

CANCELLATION

CONTACT LIST

For the month of Octo-

ber, we will continue

with the new snack op-

tion. Please continue to

fill out the voting cards

for your favorites. At the

end of November we

will review your feed-

back to determine if we

will keep ordering. In the

meantime, if you see

something you may like,

send us a picture and

we can try to see if we

can get them.

Laura suggested these!

They look interesting! We

will see what we can

do.

Thanks!

NEW SNACKS

16

VOLUNTEER REPORT TIME EXPLAINED One of the most

important parts of

volunteering as an Usher

is the Volunteer Report

time. It can be anywhere

from 30 minutes to 2

hours prior depending

upon the assignment/

performance. For any

general performance,

(CST/KCH/ZBOH) your

report time is 1.5 hours prior to show time, but you may wonder “WHY?”.

Hopefully, this gives you a little insight. There is so much that happens in

preparation of a show to ensure the best guest service possible. Volunteers re-

ceive the general briefing and their assignments from the House Manag-

er. Next, the Volunteer is briefed by their Tier Leader on the specifics of their

assigned tier. This may include pre-show checks of restrooms, water fountains,

monitors, seat removals, as well as emergency evacuation drills. All of this

needs to happen and everyone in position when the upper lobby opens 60

minutes prior to curtain. Those in the lobby and the lower tiers normally feel

the immediate affects as they tend to be the first people that guests interact

with. However, being show ready means being ready to welcome guests on all

levels without regard to when a guest may first reach your tier.

Below are the briefing times for general performances, Resident Company

shows and extra events. Occasionally a briefing time will change and we will do

our best to communicate that to you in advance.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us or a House Manager. We

will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

General Performances 1.5 hours

Florida Grand Opera 2 hrs due to pre-concert lectures

Miami City Ballet* 2 hrs due to pre-concert lectures

TCO (The Cleveland Orchestra) 2 hrs due to pre-concert lectures

Classical Music Series 2 hrs due to pre-concert lectures

Extra Events varies due to the needs of the event

*This excludes “The Nutcracker” and the opening night of each program series.

Those remain 1.5 hours

1.Please oh please do not

leave open beverages in

the refrigerators. The

contents spill and then

usually it is a fellow

volunteer, not

housekeeping who has

to clean it up.

2.Please remember to

return your vests to the

racks prior to leaving

after your shift. We are

missing several vests

from when we started as

they are accidentally

going home. If you wait

to bring it back at your

next assignment, we are

still short that particular

vest.

3.If your vest becomes

soiled during your shift

or is missing a button,

please place them in the

white laundry baskets in

the clubhouse. We will

make sure the vests are

cleaned and button

sewn back on.

4.Please remember to

return your name tags to

the board (ZBOH) or

refrigerator (KCH) after

each shift. Some of the

nametags are shared

and we need to reuse

them. Lately, more and

more badges are going

home and we are having

to pay to replace them.

Thank you in advance

for your cooperation!